A straZeneca's new heart drug, Brilinta, has been approved by China's State Food and Drug Administration, which has issued a drug import license for the product. This means Brilinta (ticagrelor ) will now be available for treating patients with acute coronary syndrome in China.

Brilinta has already been proved better than the cheaper generic version, Plavix (clopidogrel ), in preventing the recurrence of heart attacks in several studies. Plavix is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi.

While the drug sales have not been as good as originally hoped, China is an increasingly important market for AstraZeneca and this recent approval may help to improve sales.